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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
(08-31-2015, 12:01 AM)tomh009 Wrote: It really won't be cost-effective for low-density residential areas, such as Country Hills or Pioneer Park.  Those are car-centric areas, and an LRT won't change it for now.

Putting an LRT into low-density, car-centric areas can make sense if there is the will to change the nature and density of those areas along the line. If they're to stay as is, then it probably doesn't make sense.

My sense is that the corridors that might make sense after the first line is extended to Galt are 1) Erb/University (the current 202 iXpress) and 2) the Highway 7 corridor to Guelph, including Victoria St and Woodlawn Road, then to U of Guelph.
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I agree that Erb/University and Victoria are the most likely next-candidates for rapid transit, particularly if the transit hub is redeveloped intensely. I think going all the way to Guelph is a big dream, but it's not impossible: the distance is not that great. I've never heard of a proposal for an LRT link between downtown and U of G, though.

Victoria between the big box plaza known as the boardwalk and Breslau. That would be a similar length to Phase I, serve the densest part of the region but also some growth areas, and Victoria is ripe for intensification in many places. It could serve the airport if there was the will. I haven't thought about the right of way, but it seems to me it would be relatively simple through most of that stretch to add tracks in the existing rail corridor adjacent to Victoria. That might be off base, though.
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I doubt it'll ever (in say the next 25-50 years) make sense to go to Guelph.  Between GO service and the new highway 7 I doubt there'd be anywhere close to enough demand to build out the LRT.
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I always look at videos of the Rhoneexpress and think it's just like a Victoria alignment that passes through the airport then along 7 to Guelph. But yeah, going to Guelph is kind of weird. Guelph doesn't have a good enough bus system to work with that, I don't think.
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(08-31-2015, 08:10 AM)SammyOES Wrote: I doubt it'll ever (in say the next 25-50 years) make sense to go to Guelph.  Between GO service and the new highway 7 I doubt there'd be anywhere close to enough demand to build out the LRT.

GO serves only the city centres, and is not likely to be better than hourly for quite some time. I'm suggesting a local route that's much more about connecting the areas on Victoria and Woodlawn with each other and with the two city centres.

As for demand, I think it could be there and it would also be a corridor that could be intensified. But the best way to measure demand is to create the route as a bus first.

(08-31-2015, 08:34 AM)Canard Wrote: But yeah, going to Guelph is kind of weird. Guelph doesn't have a good enough bus system to work with that, I don't think.

If an alignment went along Woodlawn, to downtown, and then to U of G, you would cover quite a lot even in the absence of other routes. But at any rate, the quality of a transit system is something that can be changed.
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You're right Canard, Guelph's bus system is mediocre at best. Their system is designed to get students around the city and not their normal citizen base (which is a very car-centric population, ask anyone who lives there that isn't a student), however it's what works for them for now.

I always thought that a loop might be cool for a dream LRT route linking Cambridge, Kitchener, Guelph - from Hespeler / Eagle-Pinebush through Hespeler to the train tracks which lead directly to downtown Guelph then loop back down Highway 7 to Victoria to the future Intermodal Transit Terminal. Some of you might remember a 'Intercity connection' from Hespeler to Guelph back when there was a push to have a Monorail system built instead of LRT, that's going back many of years however. I might still have the maps saved on one of my old desktops that's collecting dust somewhere.
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(08-31-2015, 12:01 AM)tomh009 Wrote:
(08-30-2015, 11:38 PM)GtwoK Wrote: The Sunrise Center, a portion of Westmount,  the Laurentian area, St. Mary's / the Country Hills area, the Homer Watson Business Park, the Pioneer Park area, the Doon South area, and 2 campuses of Conestoga College (as well as the planned massive public recreational complex) were the areas I had been thinking of. Is that too small of a ridership area? I had thought that was pretty significant, but I might be wrong.

It really won't be cost-effective for low-density residential areas, such as Country Hills or Pioneer Park.  Those are car-centric areas, and an LRT won't change it for now.
Step 1, as always, is to have a bus route. If the route cannot support a bus, then it cannot support LRT.
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(08-31-2015, 10:10 AM)gomesjustin Wrote: You're right Canard, Guelph's bus system is mediocre at best. Their system is designed to get students around the city and not their normal citizen base (which is a very car-centric population, ask anyone who lives there that isn't a student), however it's what works for them for now.
Changes to Guelph's system have been proposed, but won't be happening for at least another year.
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(08-31-2015, 11:05 AM)timio Wrote:
(08-31-2015, 10:10 AM)gomesjustin Wrote: You're right Canard, Guelph's bus system is mediocre at best. Their system is designed to get students around the city and not their normal citizen base (which is a very car-centric population, ask anyone who lives there that isn't a student), however it's what works for them for now.
Changes to Guelph's system have been proposed, but won't be happening for at least another year.

A step in the right direction!
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(08-31-2015, 10:07 AM)mpd618 Wrote: GO serves only the city centres, and is not likely to be better than hourly for quite some time. I'm suggesting a local route that's much more about connecting the areas on Victoria and Woodlawn with each other and with the two city centres.

As for demand, I think it could be there and it would also be a corridor that could be intensified. But the best way to measure demand is to create the route as a bus first.

I'm not sure what the draw is for this? Victoria leaving Kitchener and Woodlawn entering Guelph just aren't very attractive places to go. A lot of car lots, industrial storage and little commercial parks.

Maybe in 25-50 years when there's a lot more residential built along the current highway 7 this will have some demand - but I currently live along the route and just can't imagine ever using it. Even then there'll probably be a GO station in breslau and you could use it to get directly into the city centres quickly.

The nice thing about GO going to the city centres is that at least you have things there that are drawing crowds. Lots of close pediastrian friendly stores and activities. Plus they're already major hubs for local transportation so you can use the existing bus system to get around.

GO will probably be running fairly regularly on any time frame that is comparable to building an LRT line between KW and Guelph.
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I could see a train going down Victoria and ending in the RCSS parking lot one day.
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(08-31-2015, 02:43 PM)SammyOES Wrote: I'm not sure what the draw is for this?  Victoria leaving Kitchener and Woodlawn entering Guelph just aren't very attractive places to go.  A lot of car lots, industrial storage and little commercial parks.

Well, areas that are unattractive in that way are much easier to redevelop. But the thing that's there right now is jobs - especially on Woodlawn in Guelph. A GO connection is not really that helpful if you then have to backtrack. Right now, by car, the east/north side of Kitchener and the west side of Guelph are really easy to travel between, and I think local intercity transit is needed to bridge those kinds of gaps. I would suggest something similar for a Galt (/ Preston) / Hespeler / Guelph route.
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RCSS?
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(08-31-2015, 04:48 PM)Canard Wrote: RCSS?

The Real Canadian Super Store on Fischer Hallman
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(08-31-2015, 04:51 PM)JoeKW Wrote:
(08-31-2015, 04:48 PM)Canard Wrote: RCSS?

The Real Canadian Super Store on Fischer Hallman

Oh- I thought Resurrection Catholic Secondary School on University near Fischer-Hallman.

That makes sense. If it's as far as Fischer-Hallman, though, I'd expect it to be a no-brainer to go to Ira Needles.
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